Dynamic phenomena in laser cutting and process performance

Laser cutting of sheet metals is widely used all over the world since it combines high speed with excellent cutting quality. Nevertheless if the thickness of the work piece becomes relatively high, the roughness of the cut edges becomes quite coarse and also the formation of dross and slag is likely. The latter phenomena must obviously be related to dynamic processes that can be identified as fluctuations in the liquid body that forms at the current end of the cut due to absorption of laser radiation and where material removal takes place due to friction with a sharply focused gas jet. A detailed analysis of the liquid layer shows that viscosity and surface tension that have so far not been considered very often in the literature have a strong impact on the material removal mechanism which consists of the formation and separation of droplets formed at the bottom of the work piece, thus being essentially intermittent. The mathematical treatment of this model shows good coincidence with experimental data. It gives rise to the idea that a substantial reduction of surface tension could improve the material removal mechanism insofar as the intermittent ejection is transformed into a continuous ejection of melt flow thus considerably improving cutting speed and quality. These ideas have also led to a new patent for an improved laser cutting head. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or review under responsibility of Bayerisches Laserzentrum GmbH